135 Do you know your way to peace & pros

Do you know the way to peace and prosperity?

Most normal people would like to live in peace with other human beings and despite a major problem with ongoing racism instigated by political leaders in South Africa, over a million Christians of different denominations and races recently got together at the mid-point in South Africa outside Bloemfontein, to pray for peace and prosperity in our country. Even though these sincere people got together for this prayer meeting on a Sabbath, they did not consider the Sabbath Day as such, but their reason was that it was a convenient time for most working people in the country to attend such a meeting. Obviously, most people who truly observe the Sabbath command did not attend this meeting, since it involved a great deal of traveling to and from the venue on the Sabbath Day.

It is now a few months since this prayer meeting and instead of any improvement in the problems being experienced in our beloved country, things have gone from bad to worse, since farm and other murders have increased and a number of disasters have struck in various parts of the country, such as the severe fires in Knysna, floods and storm damage in the Kwa-Zulu Natal and Gauteng provinces and a severe drought in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces resulting in water restrictions in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and the surrounding areas. But, why are things not improving, despite people humbling themselves in prayer before G-d? Why does our Father not answer the prayers of all these very sincere believers? The answer to this question is to be found in two Scriptural witnesses, that are part of the immutable laws of Elohim and of which we always need to be mindful, when making prayer requests to Him. These two witnesses come from Proverbs 28: 9 and Ezekiel 22: 26 respectively, as follows:

Proverbs 28: 9, ‘He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination’ and
Ezekiel 22: 26, ‘Her (talking specifically about the house of Israel as per verse 18) priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean (meat – such as pig meat, ostrich, lobsters, crayfish, etc.) and the clean (beef, chicken, lamb, antelope, deer, etc.); and they hide their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.’

Yes, it is true that we should pray to Elohim for the only lasting solution to the many problems facing all of mankind in the world today, namely that His Kingdom should come on earth, as it is now in heaven. However, the problem with most of Churchianity is that they do not believe and understand what Yahshua the real Messiah taught whilst He was on earth. Most are totally oblivious to His mission to reconcile us from the lost sheep of the house of Israel to the Father and to Brother Judah. Because of this misunderstanding and the fact that most of the descendants of Israel who were scattered into the world because of idolatry has no idea that they belong to the ancient nation of Israel and call themselves Christians, the world is in a total mess and despite the efforts of religious and political leaders throughout the ages, mankind has failed to live peacefully with one another from the time when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Even since Yahshua’s first advent two thousand years ago, mankind did not experience universal peace. The reason being, that Satan has since the recreation of the world been deceiving and influencing the inhabitants of the entire world to believe his lies and deception.

Right from the beginning of creation YHVH set in motion spiritual laws of cause and effect and even though He explained the same to mankind, under Satan’s influence, we chose to follow our own ideas of what is right and wrong. As may be understood from the Scriptures, YHVH initially explained His Laws to His people; examples being to Noah in Genesis 6: 9, and to Abraham in Genesis 26: 5. When Elohim’s people Israel became more numerous, He led them out of Egypt and gave them His Torah as a user manual, giving details how He as their Creator wants them to live, to enjoy happy abundant lives. But, because most of us do not want to be prescribed to how to live, we like Adam and Eve partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil on a daily basis. Furthermore those who are supposed to teach the word of Elohim, have been so deceived by Satan and his agents, that they themselves do not know Elohim’s truth any longer, as witnessed in Jeremiah 23: 1 & 2, as follows: ‘“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares YHVH. (2) Therefore thus says YHVH Elohim of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares YHVH.’ Most of us who have been studying Elohim’s word for some time are aware that YHVH gave us His commandments for our good. But, the majority of those who say that they believe in Messiah have been led to believe that they no longer need to obey Torah, since He already ‘fulfilled’ it for them.

The problem with this thinking is; how will those who say they serve Yahshua (or J*e*s*u*s*) ever experience peace and an abundant life, if they are taught by their shepherds that they need not obey Torah any longer? It is certain that these shepherds have never read Deuteronomy 28 – as they stubbornly believe that (YHVH)’s strict laws have been abolished by His Son. Most of us are aware that Deuteronomy 28 describes the blessings that will ensue, if we choose to obey Elohim’s Torah teachings, but it also describes the curses which will befall us if we don’t obey. The blessings are discussed in the first 14 verses of Deuteronomy 28, and the curses in the rest of the chapter. Some of the blessings include what we read from verses 9 & 10, in this way: “YHVH will establish you as a holy (set-apart) people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you will keep the commandments of YHVH your Elohim, and walk in His ways. (10) So all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of YHVH; and they shall be afraid of you.” The curses by far outnumber the blessings and include what we read from verses 58 & 59, as follows: “If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, YHVH your Elohim, (59) then YHVH will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.” These problems are pandemic throughout the world today. The question is: How will these deceived people solve the problems facing the world, if they are taught that they are free from obeying Torah, which is in fact the root cause of our problems? It is true; Yahshua came to set us free, but free form sin – the transgression of Torah, not free from Torah as most Christians believe. Without understanding this, they are definitely not able to come up with any viable lasting solution, unless and until they change their entire outlook on life. This is why it is so important for those of us called out of the religions of the world, to realize that it takes a paradigm shift to come out of the lies and deception that we have been taught in the past. Think for a moment, how many Christian people are truly healthy and happy? Are they healthier and happier than their pagan neighbors? Why, if Yahshua took away the curses of the law, will a Christian who sleeps around, contract aids or another sexually transmitted decease, like anyone else doing the same and who does not believe in C*h*r*i*s*t*? The reason being, that when we come to believe in Yahshua and are immersed in His saving name, He takes away the curses or punishment due to us for our past sins, but if we continue to practice sin after we came to the knowledge of the truth, we will again curse ourselves and our children. The Scriptures is clear, only once we and all other human beings start obeying the teachings of Elohim, will we have peace and prosperity as Elohim’s creation.

Yahshua never abolished any of Elohim’s commandments, as He is the exact representation of Elohim’s nature as witnessed in Hebrews 1: 1 to the first part of verse 3, as follows: ‘Elohim, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, (2) in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. (3) And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.’ Without repeating the basic tenets of our faith, we need to understand that Yahshua being the visible image of the invisible Elohim, will never do away with His own Laws, as He is the embodiment of Torah. Throughout the Tanach we read about Yahshua’s first and second coming. We read from Isaiah 42: 21 how Yahshua came to make the law great and glorious, during His first advent. This is in fact the meaning of the word ‘fulfill’ in Matthew 5: 17, as can be understood, if the rest of the chapter is read from verse 18 to 48. Yahshua came to make the Law more binding and as our perfect example, He showed us to obey Torah with a spiritual intent, to lead us to perfection, as He also concluded in verse 48 of Matthew 5, saying: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Rav Yaa’cov explained the way in which to reach perfection in James 1: 22 – 25, saying: ‘But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. (23) For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; (24) for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. (25) But one who looks intently at the perfect law (Torah), the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.’ We see over and over throughout the Scriptures that those who obey Elohim’s word are blessed in all they do.

When Messiah appeared on earth, He taught and practiced peace, but His first coming did not leave the world a legacy of peace. Despite the fact that an angel with a multitude of heavenly hosts appeared at Messiah’s birth, praising Elohim, and saying (in Luke 2: 14): “Glory to Elohim in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased”, the inhabitants of earth have seen very little real peace, since then. The world as well as the Land of Israel in the Middle East has seen war after war and conflict after conflict and left to our own devices we are incapable of securing peace. In fact the world has rejected the peace that Elohim offered through Messiah - Mankind has not only rejected Yahshua as the real Messiah, but also the message He taught whilst He was on earth. But how and why have human beings rejected Yahshua and His message? Most of what Yahshua taught has been distorted by those who say that they believe in Him. But, how has this happened? The problem started soon after Messiah’s death, resurrection and ascension to heaven, when the Nazarene Jewish congregation became infiltrated by former pagans, who slowly but surely substituted the Hebrew origins of the congregation with their pagan practices. This was essentially the first part of Satan’s deception to change the Jewish roots of Elohim’s congregation to nothing other than falsehood and paganism. After having severed the believers from their Jewish roots, he continued to remove their belief in the only Scriptures available to them at the time, namely the Tanach. But, that was only the beginning of the deception, as the main obstacle to our Nazarene Jewish faith, lies in accepting and understanding who and what Yahshua the Messiah is. I am also positive that unless and until you and I have fully settled this truth in our minds, we will not be able to serve YHVH in the way that He intended for us from the beginning. We need to realize once and for all, that Yahshua’s first coming was to reconcile us from the lost ten tribes to the covenant we made with our heavenly Father at Mount Sinai, together with Brother Judah who remained loyal to Him, ever since their return from captivity 2500 years ago. We also need to be aware of His own words in Matthew 15: 24, saying: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Even though the Jews of His day rejected Him, we need to understand that He did not come for them at that time. YHVH has blinded their minds to the identity of the true Messiah as recorded for us in John 12: 37 – 40[1] and Romans 11: 32[2], until His return one day on Yom Teruah (or Rosh Hashanah), when He will save the tents of Judah first (as per Zechariah 12: 7[3]) and when they will see His hands and accept Him as their Messiah (as per Zechariah 12: 10[4]), the dead in Messiah will be resurrected as witnessed in Romans 11: 15, as follows: ‘For if their (the house of Judah) rejection (of Yahshua) be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?’

But, if you believe that only our Jewish Brothers are blinded to who and what Yahshua is, you are wrong! We need to recall Yahshua’s own words to the chief priests and the elders in Matthew 21: 42 – 44, where He asked: “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM YHVH, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? (43) Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of Elohim will be taken away from you (meaning the Jews of His day who knew the prophecies about Him in the Tanach and saw the miracles that He performed, but also those in Churchianity and Nazarene/Messianic Israelites and like-minded believers who reject Him as the chief corner/foundation stone of Elohim’s congregation but also as YHVH in the flesh and therefore decide for themselves when and/or how to obey Him, will not serve as kings and priests in Elohim’s Kingdom one day), and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. (44) And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” Even so, we need to realize that it is not by our own intelligence that we will discover who and what Yahshua is, as He also confirmed in Matthew 11: 25 – 27, saying: “I praise Thee, O Father, Master of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes. (26) Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Thy sight. (27) All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” I firmly believe that belief in anything other than the Oneness of Elohim is a major obstacle to obedience of Elohim’s Torah.

Rav Shaul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12: 3 regarding the identity of Yahshua, saying: ‘Therefore I make known to you, that no one speaking by the Spirit of Elohim says, “Yahshua is accursed”; and no one can say, “Yahshua is Lord (or MarYah, an Aramaic word meaning Master YHVH, translated as Lord in most English versions of the Scriptures),”except by the Set-apart Spirit.”’ Similarly when Rav Kepha identified Yahshua correctly in Matthew 16, Yahshua told him in verses 18 & 19, saying: “And I also say to you that you are Peter (meaning a pebble or stone), and upon this rock (meaning Yahshua Himself, as may also be understood from Matthew 7: 24[5] and other Scriptures) I will build My congregation; and the gates of Hades (the grave) shall not overpower it (meaning that it will still exist at Yahshua’s return).” Rav Kepha fully understood what Yahshua meant, as he later explained in 1 Peter 2: 4 – 9, saying: ‘And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of Elohim, (5) you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Elohim through Yahshua Messiah. (6) For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” (7) This precious value, then, is for you who believe (that Yahshua is YHVH the rock of our salvation and the foundation of His congregation). But for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” (8) and “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. (9) But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR ELOHIM’S OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.’ The problem with not believing Yahshua’s words in John 10: 30[6], is that as humans we know that no two persons will always agree about all things all of the time, even if they are identical twins. It is therefore difficult for us as humans to understand how two ‘leaders’ will always be in total agreement. Consequently it is easy to understand, how, if Yahshua was not YHVH or if there were indeed two (YHVH)’s; how Yahshua’s administration could differ from that of YHVH. This is also why Christianity and those Nazarene/Messianic and like-minded believers, who believe in two (YHVH)’s or that Yahshua is the second person in the trinity, came to decide for themselves, when and how to serve YHVH our Elohim. However, as YHVH in the flesh, Yahshua said to the Jewish leaders of His day in John 10: 37 & 38, ‘If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; (38) but If I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” Later Yahshua in answer to Philip’s question in John 14: 8[7], said as recorded in verses 9 & 10, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’”

To recap, Jews are presently blinded to the identity of Yahshua, but as we know from the Scriptures, this was (YHVH)’s doing, so that those of us called by YHVH at this time may be reconciled to Him as well as to Brother Judah. Once the fullness of the Gentiles (those of the lost ten tribes who used to think that they are Gentiles have come in to the way of Elohim) then all Israel will be saved as witnessed in Romans 11: 25 – 27. Even so, it is not only the Jews who are presently blinded; Christianity also stumble over Yahshua’s identity as being fully YHVH in the flesh and it is for this very reason that they hold that Yahshua and (YHVH)’s laws or the administration thereof, are different. Because they also do not understand the true gospel, they are unaware that the very same Torah will one day be the rules according to which the coming Kingdom of Elohim will be governed. But, there are also Nazarene/Messianic and like-minded believers among us, who like the Catholic Church stumble over the truth about Messiah being the rock, or foundation upon which the congregation of Elohim is built, because they misinterpret Yahshua’s words to Rav Kepha in Matthew 16: 18, believing that Yahshua promised to build His congregation upon Kepha and the other disciples (and therefore by extension also meaning them his modern day disciples) and not on Himself. As a result they hold that they have been given the position to determine how and when to worship Elohim. But as shown before, Rav Kepha was fully aware what Yahshua said to him; as was also correctly understood by Rav Shaul in 1 Corinthians 3: 11, where he wrote: ‘For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Yahshua Messiah.’

Those who therefore mistakenly came to believe that they have been given the Oracles of Elohim, are in so doing usurping the authority of the Levites among the Jews and are accordingly referred to by Yahshua in Revelation 3: 9 as the synagogue of Satan, where He also pronounce a punishment over them, saying: ‘Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews (by usurping their authority), and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them to come and bow down at your feet, and to know that I have loved you.” YHVH made all the rules according to which we should worship Him, and Yahshua the word of Elohim confirmed the same by being our living example. A truism about those who believe that they have been given the right to determine how and when to worship Elohim, by Yahshua, are in the most also believers in two (YHVH)’s, Yahshua being the lesser YHVH. Their belief in a lesser YHVH also supports the idea that Yahshua has less authority than YHVH. This is perhaps why these believers are able to (easily) invalidate Yahshua’s teachings, one of which being what He said in Matthew 23: 2 & 3[8]. However, we need to be ever mindful of Yahshua’s own words in Matthew 28: 18, where He said: “All authority (or power) has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” As also witnessed in 1 Corinthians 1: 22 - 24, in this way: ‘For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; (23) but we preach Messiah crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, (24) but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Messiah the power of Elohim and the wisdom of Elohim.’

Ultimately every knee will bow before Yahshua, even those who died without ever knowing His name, as is confirmed in Psalms 22: 26 – 29, in this way: ‘The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise YHVH. Let your heart live forever! (27) All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to YHVH, and all the families of the nations will worship before Thee. (28) For the kingdom is (YHVH)’s, and He rules over the nations. (29) All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship, all those who go down to the dust will bow before Him, even he who cannot keep his soul alive.’ Even though very few truly believe in the salvation of YHVH, namely Yahshua, mankind will ultimately believe in Him, as He is coming back to save us from ourselves and to rule us right here on the earth. Even though Yahshua confirmed in Mark 12: 29 & 30, that “The foremost (command) is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! YHVH OUR ELOHIM IS ONE YHVH; (30) AND YOU SHALL LOVE YHVH YOUR ELOHIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’, the Oneness of Elohim has been a problem at His first coming and will be so until He returns. As long as people continue to contradict the foremost command by their actions, they are not serving YHVH the only Elohim – but are simply fooling themselves! The point is that each and every one of us who believe that we are children of Elohim, through our faith in Messiah as recorded in Galatians 3: 26 need to realize that the only way in which we will be fully able to serve and obey Elohim, is if we realize that He is the one and only ONE!

Even though this appears to be a closing statement, there is much more; in that Yahshua did not finish what He said in the quoted section above, but added in verse 31 of Mark 12, saying: “The second is this, ‘You SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” At this point I need to ask those of us, who say and fully believe that we are Israel (whether they believe that we are bloodline Israelites, or the Israel of Elohim described in Galatians 3, 4, and more specifically 6: 16, and Romans 9: 6 & 7, it does not matter); Who is your neighbor? Before answering this question, let me point out that most of us, like our Christian Brothers, have been missing the point! As I said in the beginning, Yahshua came to reconcile us to both the Father and to Judah (our neighbor), as Rav Shaul explained at length in Ephesians 2: 11 - 22. It is true YHVH has been hiding His face from us, because of our disobedience in the past. But, we are told in Proverbs 25: 2 that, ‘It is the glory of Elohim to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.’ We who are called to be first fruits at this time, need to ask YHVH to let His Set-apart Spirit guide us to see His face (like Moses did) and we will soon discover that He has been hiding Himself in Yahshua, the image or form of Elohim as may be seen from Isaiah 45: 15, in this way: ‘Truly, Thou art an Elohim who hides Himself, O Elohim of Israel, Savior!’ A second drawback is that most of us who came to believe that we are Israel, fail to understand who our real neighbor is! Without understanding these two truths, there can never be peace on earth, as these two foremost commandments contain all of Torah.

In fact these two commandments, which even Christianity, say they believe and obey, have been mankind’s problem form the start. Ask yourself; why did Yahshua our Messiah come as a Jew? Why did He not come as a Scot or a South African? The reason is that despite what we personally believe or think, the Jews are the most hated race upon the face of the earth and if YHVH, America and a few Christian/Messianic believers in Yahshua, did not realize the importance of the nation of Israel in the Middle East, or more specifically the Jews, they would have been wiped from the face of the earth many years ago. As mentioned earlier, Yahshua as a Jew came to reconcile us to the Father, but also to Brother Judah. If we understood Yahshua’s parable of the prodigal son, we would have realized this long ago. But as Israel we are like blind men and most will only understand this when Yahshua returns. It is as I explained when I discussed Yahshua’s miracles, where He healed the blind man in Mark 8: 22 – 25, as follows: ‘And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Him, and entreated Him to touch him. (23) And taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes, and laying His hands upon him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” (24) And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I am seeing them like trees, walking about.” (25) Then again He laid His hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly.’

The nation of Israel who has been blinded by Satan, do not understand the good news about the coming kingdom of Elohim, and the fact that Yahshua is going to remarry His bride, the commonwealth of Israel, at His return. In Ezekiel 34: 30 & 31 YHVH said through Ezekiel, ‘“Then they will know that I, YHVH their Elohim, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares YHVH Elohim. (31) “As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your Elohim,” declares YHVH Elohim.’ In Mark 8: 24, the blind man says that he sees men walking like trees. In Mark 8: 25, we see that after Yahshua laid hands on the blind man (Israel) for the second time, he saw things clearly, like most humans will, at the second coming of Messiah. This section about the trees in Mark 8: 24 is endorsed by Jeremiah 11: 16 & 17, where YHVH refers to the united Israel as an olive tree, as follows: ‘YHVH called your name, “A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”; With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, and its branches are worthless. (17) And YHVH of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me by offering up sacrifices to Baal.’ Without revisiting another related subject, suffice it to say that by now we know that the olive tree spoken about here is the same olive tree discussed in Romans 11.

When studying the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, from verse 11 on, we see that the eldest son never left the father. Yes, he became jealous when, at the return of his younger brother, his father welcomed him with a celebratory homecoming, because it was difficult for him to understand why his reckless brother deserved such a welcome. However, we see that after the prodigal son’s attitude had become humble, repenting and trusting, his father said in Luke 15: 32: ‘But we had to be merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ This is exactly what our Father YHVH does for us, when we repent and return to Him. Because some Messianic/Nazarene and like-minded believers do not realize that Judah is our neighbor, they contradict the words of Yahshua who is YHVH in the flesh, when it comes to the authority of Levi, and more specifically the Levites among our Jewish brothers, as regards the oracles of Elohim. The rebellion of Israel, after Korah’s rebellion discussed in Numbers 16, should be a witness against such deceived believers, but, most of them do not study the annual Torah portions like most Jews, including Nazarene Jews/Israelites do. Korah’s rebellion triggered another challenge from the sons of Israel, when they grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying in verse 41 of Numbers 16, “You are the ones who have caused the death of (YHVH)’s people.” Next the congregation assembled against Moses and Aaron, and they turned to the tent of meeting. Afterward the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of YHVH appeared. When Moses and Aaron came to the tent of meeting YHVH spoke to Moses saying that they should get away from the people, so that He may consume the congregation. Even so, Moses instructed Aaron to quickly take his censor and put fire from the altar in it and burn incense on it, thus making atonement for the congregation, for the wrath of Elohim has gone forth from YHVH and a plague started. Aaron did as Moses told him and took his stand between the dead and the living, and so the plague was checked. However, we see that 14,700, besides Korah and his men, died in this plague.

Continuing in Numbers 17, we see that YHVH having now gained the attention of the nation, tells Moses to take the rods of all the leaders according to their father’s households and write their names on their rods. YHVH also tells Moses to write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi. Then YHVH tells Moses to deposit the rods in the tent of meeting in front of the Ark of the testimony, saying that it will come about that the rod of the man whom YHVH chooses will sprout. Moses did as YHVH told him and the next day, he saw that Aaron’s staff not only sprouted buds, but also bear flowers and almonds. Moses brought the rods out in the presence of YHVH showing it to all the sons of Israel. Each man took his rod, but YHVH instructed Moses to put Aaron’s rod before the Ark to bear testimony, to be kept against the rebels that they may put an end to their grumblings against YHVH, so that they should not die. This should also serve as a warning to those of us whom YHVH has called out of the world, to follow Him and not entertain thoughts of rebelling against Him and the Levites among Judah, who preserved the timing of the Sabbath, the Feast Days, the Hebrew Language and the kosher food laws of Elohim for us. If we who have been called by YHVH at this time choose to remain disobedient to the two foremost commandments, we will simply not make it into the Kingdom of Elohim. In addition, as Ambassadors of the future Kingdom, we are responsible to show the people in the world how YHVH should be obeyed. Nevertheless, world peace and prosperity will elude mankind, until Messiah’s return one day.

Knowing this, what should we do? Our role as the remnant of returning former Israelites are to make Judah jealous, by keeping Torah with a spiritual intent, as we read from Romans 11: 11, in this way: ‘I say then, they (Judah) did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.’ Secondly, and before you think I am only out to criticize other believers, I want to urge our people to stand by the nation of Judah who are also presently preserving the Promised Land for us, and like some of those ‘Messianic believers’, who remain with one foot in Christianity, support our Jewish Brothers in the Land of Israel financially, when possible. Thirdly, as Nazarene Israelite watchmen we are also commanded in Isaiah 62: 6 & 7 to continually remind YHVH, to make Jerusalem a place of praise in the earth. But, most of all, those of us who believe in the Oneness of Elohim should not neglect the foremost command and without any doubt in our minds, recite the Shema as commanded in Deuteronomy 6: 4 – 9 twice daily. Think about it!

[1] John 12: 37 – 40, ‘But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him; that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, “YHVH, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF YHVH BEEN REVEALED?” For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES, AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART; LEST THEY SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED, AND I HEAL THEM.”’

[2] Romans 11: 32, ‘For Elohim has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all.’

[3] Zechariah 12: 7, “YHVH also will save the tents of Judah first in order that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not be magnified above Judah.”

[4] Zechariah 12: 10,”And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.”

[5] Matthew 7: 24, ‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.’, meaning Yahshua the rock of our salvation.

[6] John 10: 30, “I and the Father are one.”

[7] John 14: 8, ‘Philip said to Him, “Master, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”’

[8] Matthew 23: 2 & 3: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things, and do not do them (since they are only human).”